TOKYO: Digital transformation minister Taro Kono said Tuesday he will voluntarily return three months of his ministerial salary to take responsibility for a slew of problems involving Japan’s My Number identification card system.

“I should take responsibility as minister in charge of the system,” Kono told a press conference, citing problems such as a delayed response to cases of bank accounts for receiving public benefits being wrongly tied to the My Number cards of other people.

Kono said he will remain committed to his job.

The government has confirmed 940 cases of such bank account mix-ups.

“The information-sharing system within the Digital Agency was inadequate. It took a substantial period for the cases to be reported,” Kono said.

According to an interim report published earlier this month on a comprehensive review of My Number data, the government discovered 1,069 new cases of data mix-ups for My Number cards as health insurance certificates.

The government plans to complete the review by the end of November in principle.

JIJI Press